Loeb School offers 'Telling Your Family Story' workshop

February 25. 2014 5:27PMMANCHESTER — Every family has a story and the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications wants to help residents tell theirs.

Raconteur Fritz Wetherbee and journalist-authors John Clayton and Meg Heckman lead a who’s who of story-tellers and historians for the annual “Telling Your Family Story” workshop on March 22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the school.

“This popular program teaches how to uncover family or community stories, how to present them and how to preserve them for future generations,” said David Tirrell-Wysocki, executive director of the non-profit school. “These skills are useful for local historians who record town lore and for residents who just want to make sure their dinner-table tales from grandma and grandpa are never forgotten.”

The program focuses on interviewing and listening skills, research and presentation, and how to preserve priceless photos and documents that are part of every family’s or community’s, history.

The program offers a unique opportunity to hear New Hampshire’s premiere storytellers tell how they prepare and present their tales.

Fritz Wetherbee, of WMUR’s “Chronicle” program, has been finding quirky people and wonderful stories from all over New Hampshire for more than 50 years.

Now vice president for communications at the New Hampshire Hospital Association, John Clayton spent 25 years as a reporter and columnist for the New Hampshire Union Leader, telling the stories of Manchester and its colorful residents.

Meg Heckman has told hundreds of stories through the pages of the Concord Monitor, and won acclaim with a poignant series and book she co-authored: “We Went to War,” which brought voice to the stories of World War II veterans.

Archivist Lori Fisher of Bow’s Baker Free Library brings advice on preserving and protecting photos and family papers that often fade away in a box in the attic.

John Gfroerer of the video production company, Accompany, will demonstrate video techniques to help put your stories on tape.

Registration is $50, including lunch. Register at loebschool.org or call 627-0005.

Contact David Tirrell-Wysocki at loebschool@loebschool.org or call 627-0005. The Loeb School is located at 749 E. Industrial Park Drive, Manchester.